Smart Grid Renewables Integration

Abstract

Smart grid technologies are often portrayed as being vital to the efforts to
increase renewable energy production, yet this aspect of the smart grid is the
least developed. Massive amounts of new transmission lines will be necessary
to access the best large-scale wind and solar resources, however the biggest
buzz is about smart grid technologies at the distribution level. While smart
meter installations and distribution automation projects are being deployed at
scale in many countries around the world, a much broader set of smart grid
technology tools will be required for the successful integration of renewable
energy at both the utility scale and on a distributed basis. These tools
include static VAR compensators and synchrophasors within the transmission
grid; advanced energy storage at the transmission, distribution, and
residential levels; dynamic pricing demand response; virtual power plants;
microgrids; and smart wind and solar technologies.

Except for a limited number of geographies, the hype surrounding the smart
grid's vaunted ability to aggregate and optimize renewables is largely
relegated to PowerPoint presentations, pilot programs, and long range
planning. The success record of smart grid renewables integration is a mixed
bag, with European countries boldly plowing forward, while many U.S. utilities
exhibit what has been described by a former California state regulator as
"electrotrophobia" - the fear of change linked to greater reliance upon
intermittent renewable energy resources. Pike Research anticipates that this
situation will change over the next several years, creating a significant
expansion of the market opportunity for smart grid technologies that enable
the integration of renewables.

This Pike Research report examines current thinking and practices with regard
to a series of smart grid technologies, policies, and applications designed to
help integrate large penetration levels of renewable energy into power systems
around the world. The study provides market capacity and revenue forecasts for
the following technologies: static VAR compensators; synchrophasors;
transmission, distribution and residential advanced energy storage systems;
demand response; virtual power plants and microgrids. Key industry players are
profiled, including SWOT analysis of their market positions, and regional
market forecasts for each key segment extend through 2018.

Key Questions Addressed:

Which technologies qualify as smart grid solutions to renewables
integration?

Why is HVDC transmission crucial to meeting renewables targets, but is not
really part of the smart grid?

What kinds of advanced energy storage work best at the transmission,
distribution, and residential points of power grid service?

Who are the key companies betting on this smart grid opportunity, and who
are some emerging players that are still under the radar?

What role will micro-inverters, synchrophasors, and demand response all
play in helping variable renewables mesh with deregulated power markets?

Have there been any major breakthroughs in the accuracy of wind and solar
forecasts?